Mickey Mouse’s 2024 Already Off To A Bonkers Start Now That He’s Public Domain
Image via Nightmare Forge Games
Disney’s early mouse is out of the house and into the wild. While regular folks like us are still ironing out our 2024 New Year’s resolutions, Mickey Mouse—the cherished symbol of childhood and imagination—has already lived through it all, now that he’s a centenarian character making waves in the public domain.
Steamboat Willie, the vessel that launched Mickey Mouse into the hearts of many generations, has docked into new, uncharted creative territories, with the early cartoon version of the character now available for unrestricted use. This transition has unleashed a flood of innovative and, frankly, startling adaptations.
Welcome to the public domain, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928)! https://t.co/ELwRxlukIr pic.twitter.com/Kbv740jTD2
— Internet Archive (@internetarchive) January 1, 2024
It is January 1st 2024, which means that Disney's Steamboat Willie has entered the public domain!
— MrGM (@MrGMYT) January 1, 2024
So here it is, in full. pic.twitter.com/S01kfHIW0H
The first day of the year alone spawned a barrage of memes, fan ideas for a horror film, and even a horror game. Oh, and there’s now a cryptocurrency coin too.
Stepping out of the shadows is Infestation 88 (update: now Infestation: Origins due to antisemitic concerns), a survival horror co-op game by Nightmare Forge Games that takes a dark twist on the usually cheerful Mickey, incorporating the early cartoon mouse from Steamboat Willie into its eerie narrative.
The game features a series of episodes, each unveiling a new character or urban legend, with the promise of a thrilling challenge that requires players to work together to overcome the infestation.
Image via Nightmare Forge Games
In the spirit of creativity and to the reluctance of Disney, Mickey’s liberation has opened the floodgates to reimaginations of all mediums through a different, often darker lens.
Happy New Year!
— ROB YULFO (@RobYulfo) January 1, 2024
COME GET YOUR WILLIE! #haapynewyear #steamboatwillie pic.twitter.com/Zbbmy9emTe
With that, audiences have pointed out that, unlike Winnie-the-Pooh, the original Steamboat Willie is a natural canvas for a potential horror movie.
“It’s literally an animal body horror,” comedy writer Dan Thomas tweets. “Seven minutes of Mickey and Minnie torturing various animals for their own amusement [that] ends with Mickey murdering an innocent bird with a potato.”
I love that Mickey was a little scoundrel in this era. Here, he tortures animals and murders a parrot.
— cease fire now (@MossAnimation) January 1, 2024
Come to think of it, maybe a steamboat willie horror film could work after all. https://t.co/DQfWoKecI1
If you really want to make a Steamboat Willie horror movie, don’t. Mainly because it’s already one. pic.twitter.com/x46L14KPxo
— Logan Miller (@ToucanLDM) January 1, 2024
ITS 2024, STEAMBOAT WILLIE IS OFFICIALLY IN PUBLIC DOMAIN SO I PRESENT TO YOU MY WILLIE HORROR MOVIE SCRIPT pic.twitter.com/KgUg4bxVBC
— cy (@Cyratu3) December 31, 2023
Social media users have offered up names like “Screamboat Willie” and “Screamboat Killie” as potential film titles.
*bursts into the boardroom*
— JUM🅱ï¸O (@bromojumbo) January 1, 2024
Screamboat Killie…
HAPPY PUBLIC DOMAIN DAY! The mouse is yours. Just remember: it's the Steamboat Willie incarnation ONLY, so avoid his modern design & safe, soft personality. Steamboat Mickey is a showy little asshole that abuses animals for a laugh. Make him your own, or MAKE HIM FAITHFULLY MEAN! pic.twitter.com/K3wZESPUBJ
— Tom "RecD" Hart Jr. (@RecDTRH) January 1, 2024
The ripple effect has even touched the world of cryptocurrency, which has seen the birth of the MICKEY meme coin, trading on the Ethereum blockchain.
“Free at last, free at last.”
— Mickey Token (MICKEY) (@MickeyMemeToken) January 1, 2024
1.1.2024 at 00:00 EST
Mickey Token (MICKEY) is live.
Contract: 0xE57A26f5a007968F0fCA7a156333bF082841E94D
SOON holders can now swap their SOON for MICKEY at the ratio of 1:1
link: https://t.co/8DDOcTQFBf
DO NOT SEND TOKENS to the contract pic.twitter.com/9BudkmIl3c
From mouse to monster, the legacy of the timeless Mickey continues, albeit in forms that Walt Disney might never have anticipated.
[via IGN, Screen Rant, Decrypt, images via various sources]
